Naming Organic Compounds (CIE IGCSE Chemistry: Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award))

• The names of organic compounds have two parts: 
  • the prefix (or stem) 
  • end part (or suffix)
• The prefix tells you how many carbon atoms are present in the longest continuous chain in the compound
• The suffix tells you what functional group is on the compound

 

 

Structures of organic compounds

Extended tier only

• When there is more than one carbon atom where a functional group can be located it is important to distinguish exactly which carbon the functional group is on
• Each carbon is numbered and these numbers are used to describe where the functional group is
• For example: 
  • Propan-1-ol is an alcohol with an -OH functional group 
  • The 1 in the name indicates that the -OH group is located on the first carbon atom
  • Careful: There are many times when the numbering should start from the right - this is to keep the numbers as low as possible in chemical names 

In propan-1-ol the -OH group is located on the first carbon atom

Alkanes

 Alkenes